It was eight o'clock in the morning. Far from the city's hustle and bustle, in a quiet and luxurious house, the first rays of the sun filtered through the windowpane and fell upon the dining table. The air inside the house was filled with the aroma of fresh filter coffee and buttered toast. This home felt like a fortified fortress, completely isolated from any sorrow, pain, or evil of the outside world.
Aryan turned off the gas stove and entered the dining room, carrying two cups of steaming coffee on a tray. Naina was already seated there, tying her long hair into a simple bun. She wore a common cotton kurti, looking exactly like a middle-class working woman.
"Your coffee, Naina. A little sugar, just the way you like it," Aryan said with a smile. There was a softness and composure in his voice that could melt anyone. He stepped behind Naina and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
Naina closed her eyes and felt the moment, as if she wanted to etch this small second into her soul. She picked up the coffee cup. "Thank you, Aryan. You truly are a blessing in this crazy life of mine. My little NGO and your old bookstore... our little world is so perfect, isn't it?"
Aryan sat down across from her and took her hand in his. "Yes. I wish you never had to step out of this house. I want to provide you with every comfort in this world, even if I have to keep you confined within these walls just to ensure that no evil ever reaches you." He laughed slightly, as if joking, but there was an intense possessiveness in his eyes.
Naina smiled back. "You are very overprotective, Aryan."
But behind the outward silence, the internal monologues running through their minds were entirely different.
Naina's internal monologue: 'My innocent Aryan. He thinks the world is as straightforward as the pages of his books. He has no idea how much blood is shed for power on the streets of this city. I will not lose this innocence of his at any cost. I must protect him from this cruel world. I have the power. If I have to sacrifice the world to save this love and the peace of this home, I will do it with a smile. The world only remembers those who are powerful. If common people die in my power play, it is their weakness; it is not my fault.'
Aryan's internal monologue: 'My dear Naina. A social worker who wants to ease the pain of society. But she doesn't know how cruel the God sitting above is. In my opinion, there is no God, and even if there is, He doesn't care about us. He considers us mere insects. That is why, to survive in this world and protect one's own, one has to become the devil himself. And I will be that devil, so that Naina's world always remains in full bloom. I will build such a wall around her with all my might that no one can ever breach it.'
"Anyway," Naina finished her coffee and picked up her simple canvas bag, "I have to leave for a new NGO project. I'll try to come home early this evening."
Aryan saw her to the door. "Take care of yourself."
They both said their goodbyes—with a beautiful lie that had become the greatest truth of their lives.
Three blocks away from the house, the atmosphere changed abruptly after a narrow street. Naina stood there, and the next moment, a gleaming black bulletproof Land Cruiser V8 pulled up in front of her. She was surrounded by heavily armed Z-plus security commandos. As Naina sat in the rear of the car, the innocence vanished from her face. Her eyes were no longer those of an ordinary, loving wife. They were cold, calculating, and ruthless. She was the Chief Minister of the state.
From the front seat, her Chief Secretary fearfully handed her a file. "Madam CM, the opposition leader is organizing a massive protest against our new industrial bill. They claim we are displacing the poor from their land."
Naina didn't even touch the file. Her voice was as cold as ice. "Freeze that leader's secret bank account and arrange for his car to have an 'accident'."
The Secretary's soul trembled. "B-But Madam, his public image is very good. If we remove him, there will be a sympathy wave..."
"I don't run a government on sympathy," Naina interrupted him. "I want absolute control over my state, because peace only comes when there is control. I want him dead. I will sacrifice his career and his life with a smile. He dared to stand against me; that is his foolishness and his weakness. This is what happens to whoever gets in my way."
Her mind drifted back to Aryan's innocent smile. 'I am playing this dirty game only so that my Aryan can breathe in that white world.'
On the other side, Aryan had reached an abandoned industrial sector of the city on his ordinary bike—a part of the underworld where even the police feared to go. As soon as he entered a dark warehouse, his body language shifted. There was now an authority in his stride that signaled he was the king of that domain.
Upon his entry, more than thirty heavily armed, dangerous-looking men bowed their heads in a synchronized salute. There, he was known as 'The Phantom'—the most brutal gangster of the underworld.
"Boss," his right-hand man stepped forward and threw a man at Aryan's feet. The man was drenched in blood and groaning in pain. "He was giving information about our new supply route to a rival gang."
Aryan's face, which hours ago was filled with love for his wife, now looked like that of a god of death. There was no emotion in his eyes for the living.
The traitor began to cling to Aryan's shoes, pleading, "Forgive me, Boss! I have small children! I won't make this mistake again!"
Aryan pulled a custom-made black Glock 19 from his pocket. He loaded the gun calmly and said coldly, without any haste, "I created this underworld sector. I run this entire system. Therefore, I will be the most powerful person here. Whatever power keeps my people alive exists because of me. You are all alive because of me, so now when I want peace and you obstruct it... I will discard you without hesitation."
BANG.
With a single shot, the man's brains were splattered against the wall. His corpse thudded to the floor. Silence descended upon the warehouse. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Aryan put his gun back in his pocket and looked at the blood spatter on his shoe. "Dispose of the body. And if the rival gang tries to move forward, set their entire headquarters on fire. I want this matter finished before this evening."
He was in a hurry. He had to clean himself of this swamp of blood and death and return to his home. He had to become 'Aryan' again. To go back to his Naina. Because Naina was the only reason he had killed his humanity.
The sun had risen higher in the sky. Both Naina and Aryan were ruling the world in their own ways, wreaking havoc. Both believed that their immense power was protecting their partner from the darkness of the world. But they did not know that the very devils they wanted to protect each other from... were, in fact, themselves.